Sewing machine work-guides



' Oct. 19, 1937. J. ACKERMAN AL 2,096,691

SEWING MACHINE WORK GUIDES Filed Dec. 10, 1955 f2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l n, gvwc-n'fo c cl g neclt flckerrnan a Henr C. Nicaen T 7 Wne56= a! to: NJ

Q 1937- J. E. ACKERMAN ET AL 2,096,691

SEWING MACHINE WORK GUIDES Filed Dec. 10, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 Wu c wfo o elamea E. Ackerman and Henry C. Ni amen Patented Oct. 19, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEWING MACHINE WORK-GUIDES James E. Ackerman, Devon, and Henry 0. Nissen, Stratford, Conn., assignors to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of, New Jersey Application December 10, 1935, Serial No. 53,690

5 Claims;

This invention relates to improvements. in work-guides for use in connection with sewing machines and has for its primary object tofacilitate the production of stitched seams of different characters.

More specific objects of the invention are to provide means facilitating the formation and a double edge-folder, both in operative position upon a sewing machine bed-plate. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the bed-plate and of the folder-elements positioned as shown, in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the hem-folder swung out of effective work-directing position. Fig. 4 represents a perspective view of the double edge-folder. Fig. 5 representsa. perspective view of the hem-folder, a portion of the hem-folder shank being broken away. Fig. 6 represents a plan view of a portion of a shoulder-strap having successively edge-folded and hemmed marins. Fig. 7 represents a sectional view of. the shoulder-strap substantially on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 represents a sectional view of the shoulder-strap substantially on the line 88 of Fig. 6.

The drawings illustrate the improvement as applied to a sewing machine having a work-support or bed-plate l upon which issuitably secured a throat-plate 2 apertured to receive a needle 3 carried by a vertically reciprocatory needle-bar 4. Yieldingly opposed to the throat-plateZ is a presser-foot 5, carried by a presser-bar 6 and having a needle-slot 1, the toe of the presser-foot preferably being partly cut away to provide a guide-clearance notch 8.

Any suitable mechanism may be employed as complemental to the needle 3 in the formation of stitches, and the work may be advanced past the needle by any usual or suitable feeding mechanism, although the needle 3 is preferably in; cluded as a work-feeding element.-

In its preferred embodiment, the work-guiding attachment comprises a holder-plate 9 pivotally secured by a screw ID upon the work-support l at one. side of the line AB of seam formation. The holder-plate 9 has an ear 9 from which dependsan anchor-pin ll adapted to enter a suitable. aperture provided in the work-support,

the holder-platebeing yieldingly held in anchored position by a coil-spring l2 interposed between the head of the pivot-screw I0 and said holderplate.

Slidably mounted upon the: holder-plate 9 is a carrier-plate [3 provided withguide-slots I4 which are elongated transversely of the line of seam formation, said guide-slots receiving the guideescrews l5. threaded into the holder-plate movements lengthwise of the guide-slots l4.

Adjustably secured upon the carrier-plate I3 is theshank l6 ofa double edge-folder l1, said shank. I6 having a slot l8 elongated transversely ,9 and confining the carrier-plate l3 to right line of the line of seam formation to receive securing screws l9 and 20, and provide for adjustment of the edge-folder. IT. The double edge-folder comprises an upper edge-turning scroll 2| adapted to downwardly fold back the margin of an upper ply of workmaterial and a lower edge-turning scroll 22 adapted to upwardly fold back the margin of a lower ply of work material. The scrolls 2| and 22 are separated by a fold-margin guiding web 23 and are disposed in superposed relation to superimpose the marginal folds so that the folded margins extend in the same direction from the fold-edges. The web 23.constitutes the roof portionof the lower scroll 22 and terminates at its free end in a downwardly bent and inturned edge-guiding and fold-margin supporting lip 24. The web 23 is additionally provided at its free end with anupturned ledge 25, Figs. 2 and 4, constituting an edge-guide for the underfolded margin of. the upper work-ply. Mounted upon the ledge 25is an apron 26 supporting the upper work-ply, said apron 26-being preferably stayed by a suitable brace 21 extending from the under side of the apron. to the downturned portion of the. lip 24. The lower wall of the scroll 22 is preferably extended to provide a work-supporting apron for the lower work-ply. The superposed scrolls 2| and 22 are soldered or otherwise suit-- extends into the presser-foot guide-notch 8 to guide the work closely upto the stitching point. The carrier-plate. l3 has a rounded end 29 engagedby a cam 30 against which the carrierplate end 29 is yieldingly held by a suitable spring 3|. The cam 39 is provided upon an auxiliary carrier-arm 32 pivotally secured for horizontal swinging movement upon the holder-plate 9 by a screw 33. An adjustable stop-plate 34 is provided with an upstanding ear 35 for engagement by the auxiliary carrier-arm 32 to limit the swing-out movement of the latter, said stopplate 36 being secured to the holder-plate 9 by screws 36 passing through a stop-plate slot 3'! which is elongated transversely of the line of seam formation.

Adjustably disposed upon the auxiliary carrierarm 32, for adjustment endwise thereof, is the channeled shank 38 of a hem-folder 39, said shank 38 having a slot 40 elongated lengthwise of the shank and receiving the securing screw 4|. The hem-folder 39, in the present instance, is adapted to turn back and also infold the lower ply margin upon the upper face of said ply. To this end, the preferred form of hem-folder comprises a work-supporting apron 42 merging into a scroll having a concave wall 43 which curves upwardly, backwardly and then downwardly to terminate in spaced relation to the apron 42. Carried by the downwardly extending end of the concave wall 43 is an infold-supporting wing 44 provided at the front end thereof, i. e., in front of the overhanging or backwardly turned portion of the scroll, with an upwardly and reversely bent lip 45 arranged to form an arbor about which the Work-margin is infolded.

When the hem-folder 39 is swung out so that its carrier-arm 32 engages the ear 35 of the stopplate 34, the double edge-folder I1 is shifted by the cam 30 transversely of the line AB of seam formation, into a work-directing position thereof illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. In this position, the double edge-folder I! may be employed to inturn the overlying margins of superposed work-plies and to present the folded margins to the stitch-forming mechanism, the guide-flange 28 serving to direct the overlying fold-edges. It is commonly preferred to unite the inturned fold-margins of superposed plies of material by a line of stitches disposed close to the fold-edges and, to this end, the above referred to operative position of the edge-folder I1 is preferably such that the guide-wall 28 is closely adjacent to the seam line AB.

When the hem-folder 39 is now swung into its effective work-directing position, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the turning movement of the cam 39 permits the spring 3| to shift the edge-folder l'l laterally into a different workdirecting position thereof, in which said folder I! is disposed in alinement with the hem-folder 39 and between said hem-folder and the needle, whereby the lower scroll 22 of the edge-folder may serve as a guide for the hem formed and delivered by said hem-folder 39.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use in seaming shoulder straps of overalls and the like, in which the shoulder straps comprise extensions of different sections of the garment. Referring to Figs. 6, '7, and 8 of the drawings, the

shoulder strap portion M of a garment-section is widthwise medianly doubled to form superposed strap-plies M, M, which are secured by a line of stitches S adjacent to the fold-edge. Preparatory to uniting the superposed free edges of the strap, they are passed through the double-edge folder IT, in the swung-out position of the hemfolder. 39, thereby to form superposed edge-folds m and m which are secured bya line of stitches S disposed closely adjacent to the fold edges. To provide for crossing the shoulder straps of the garment sections, the ply M is suitably shaped, adjacent the juncture of the shoulder strap with the main portion of the garment-section, so that the edge-fold m is shorter than the edge-fold m of the ply M. When the stitching of the edgefolds m, m has been completed substantially to the garment-section end of the ply M, the hemfolder 39 is swung into its effective work-directing position in front of the edge-folder ll, which latter is thereby repositioned laterally concomitantly with the movement of the hem-folder into operative position. The margin of the lower ply M is passed into the hem-folder 39 and the hem m formed and delivered by the hem-folder is then guided to the needle by the edge-folding scroll 22 which is now in alinement with the hemfolder 39. The hem m is guided to the needle so that it is secured by a line of stitches S which constitutes a continuation of the line of stitches S but is spaced more widely from the outerfold-edge of the shoulder strap than is the line of stitches S, thereby to secure the hemfold closely adjacent to the inner fold-edge thereof.

The work-guides described, therefore, provide for successively forming and properly stitching work-margin edge-folds and hem-folds with facility and rapidity. It is to be understood, however, that the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to work-guides having the specific constructive features herein described or to any particular order of use of the work-guides.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what we claim herein is:

1. In a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocatory needle, of a work-guide shiftable into and out of effective work-directing position, a second work-guide having an effective work-directing position between said first named work-guide and said needle, and means for concomitantly shifting said guides relatively to each other including connections between said guides for shifting said second named guide into a different effective work-directing position.

2. In a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism. including a reciprocatory needle, of a hem-folder shiftably supported for movement into and out of an effective work-directing position in front of said needle, an edge-folder shiftable into and out of an effective work-directing position between said hemfolder and said needle, and means for concomitantly shifting said hem-folder and edge-folder relatively to each other.

3. In a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocatory needle, of an edge-folder having overlying edge-folding scrolls for individually folding adjacent margins of superposed work-plies, said edge-folder being shiftable from one to, another of different work-directing positions in front of said needle, a hem-folder having an operative position in front of and in alignment with one of said edge-folding scrollsin one of the Work-directing positions of said edge-folder, supporting means providing for shifting said hem-folder into a predetermined ineffective position, and operative connections with said hem-folder supporting means for shifting said edge-folder into a different Work-directing position concomitantly with the shifting movement of said hem-folder.

4. In. a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism including a reciprocatory needle, of a laterally shiftable primary work-guide having a plurality of predetermined Work-directing positions, an auxiliary work-guide pivotally supported for swinging movements from and into predetermined operative and inoperative positions, and connections between said guides eiiective to shift said primary work guide from one to another of said predetermined workdirecting positions thereof by a swinging movement of said auxiliary work-guide.

5. In a sewing machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism including a reciproguide having a plurality of predetermined workdirecting positions, an auxiliary edge-folding guide movable relatively to said primary guide into and out of operative positions, and operative connections between said guides eifective to shift said primary work-edge folding guide from one to another of said work-directing positions thereof by movement of said auxiliary guide relatively to said primary guide.

' JAMES E. ACKERMAN.

HENRY C. NISSEN. 

